Now, looking at the the gentle and affectionate gaze that Xiao Yuanmu used on Song Xuanhe, Madame Xiao suddenly felt a deep sense of melancholy at the bottom of her heart. If her eldest son hadn’t disappeared back then, how great would it be if he’d grown up together with her younger son?

An hour. Her younger son might be suffering during every minute and every second of this time. This hour could determine too many things. She couldn’t imagine what her younger son might have to pay in return for this one hour waiting for dessert.

“Sorry.” Madame Xiao’s expression was apologetic as she interrupted the conversation between the two. She spoke quietly, “Doug just told me that our pastry chef Le Goff suffered some hand injuries when cutting the pastry. You might not be able to taste his craft today.”

Song Xuanhe knew that Madame Xiao would be unable to hide her distress, but he hadn’t expected that she would be so worried about Xiao Baicong that she would ignore basic etiquette as a host and directly use such a bad excuse to get rid of a guest.

However, Song Xuanhe hadn’t really wanted to eat the Napoleon to start with. It was just that making a Napoleon was relatively time-consuming, so he’d deliberately used his choice to test the waters.

Now that he’d gotten the results of his test, he was also too lazy to stay any longer. His tone was very understanding, “In that case, please help me pass a message to Mr. Le Goff, wishing him a speedy recovery.”

Madame Xiao nodded, “I thank you in his stead.”

Song Xuanhe and Xiao Yuanmu got up. Madame Xiao sent them outside and watched them leave.

As soon as they got into the car, Song Xuanhe asked, “So? Where is Xiao Baicong now?”

Xiao Yuanmu named the province closest to Y City. Song Xuanhe’s brows wrinkled, “He’s quite vigilant.”

“When are you going?” Song Xuanhe continued.

“Immediately.” Xiao Yuanmu replied, “I’ll send you to Louis. Wait for me there.”

“I don’t think that Louis wants to see us right now.”

He thought back to when they’d been on the plane just earlier. Xiao Yuanmu had acted up for some unknown reason, and his hand, which had originally been touching his neck, suddenly hooked around him and pulled him over for a kiss. He’d completely forgotten that Louis was still on the other side of the plane. This on its own wasn’t much, since Louis had grown up in an open country and was used to their shows of love. The key point was that Louis’s girlfriend had pushed open the door and come in at that time. As soon as she went in, she saw him and Xiao Yuanmu kissing.

At the time, Louis’s girlfriend fell into a stunned trance, her expression turning very miraculous. No matter how Louis explained, she was unwilling to believe that Louis was really a straight man.

Song Xuanhe couldn’t help thinking when she thought of this.

Xiao Yuanmu smiled as well. At the time, he’d seen Song Xuanhe’s damp eyes filled with worry, along with his frown despite having just woken up, and he’d suddenly forgotten about their current situation. Although he didn’t care if Louis would be blinded by their display, he hadn’t expected that this scene would be misunderstood by Louis’s girlfriend, causing her to think that Louis was watching that kind of show.

But by this time, Louis should have explained it to his girlfriend.

When Song Xuanhe and Xiao Yuanmu arrived at Louis’s house, they were both very concerned about this issue. So, Song Xuanhe very cordially asked about how he was doing.

Louis rolled his eyes and said, “I’m single again because of you guys.”

Song Xuanhe put up a sympathetic and patted him on the shoulder, “I’m very sorry.”

Louis saw through his fake act, but he still opened the door to let them in. He didn’t give this couple who had no sympathy for others another chance to laugh at him and said directly, “Xiao, what’s your plan?”

Xiao Yuanmu set aside his smile and spoke in a calm tone, “I’m going on my own.”

Song Xuanhe’s forehead wrinkled, and Louis also looked at him uncomprehendingly.

“I have a way to deal with Xiao Yuanmu.” Seeing the fury in Song Xuanhe’s eyes, Xiao Yuanmu explained himself, “I have people by his side. Don’t worry.”

“How many of your people?” Song Xuanhe asked, “Or do you mean to say that all of the people around him are yours. Since they’re yours, just have them send him back directly and be done with it. If they’re not all yours, then it shows that Xiao Baicong is still in charge over there. Will you be able to deal with so many people with the few that you have?”

“He won’t do anything to me.” Xiao Yuanmu smiled despite seeing that Song Xuanhe was angry and said, “Trust me. Nothing will happen to me for sure.”

Song Xuanhe closed his mouth and didn’t speak any further after seeing Xiao Yuanmu’s determined expression.

In fact, he knew how cautious Xiao Yuanmu was. If he said that he didn’t have to worry, then it meant that he basically had 100% assurance that there wouldn’t be any problems. But that didn’t mean that there was no chance that nothing could go wrong. What if something went wrong?

There were so many people around Xiao Baicong who had common interests with him. They would be willing to take risks for Xiao Baicong’s sake for the sake of those interests alone.

This situation had originally been directed and acted out by Xiao Family. If he only wanted to alienate Xiao Yuanmu from the Xiao Family, then it would already be one of the better scenarios. However, if he was planning to go double or quits and took this opportunity to eliminate trouble at the roots, would Xiao Family really be able to retreat safely?

The Xiao Family only had two sons. Other than Xiao Yuanmu, there was only Xiao Baicong. Even if Xiao Baicong wasn’t completely clean of implication with this matter, Song Xuanhe could maliciously speculate that Xiao Lin would clean up the situation for the sake of his younger son’s future no matter how angry or bitterly disappointed he was because he would already have become the successor to the Xiao Family. Since he would have already lost one son, he couldn’t afford to lose all his sons.

Even if Xiao Lin was unwilling to do such a thing, Madame Xiao would force him to do so. Xiao Baicong was naturally very clear on this.

In this case, Xiao Baicong might really put all his eggs in one basket. No matter how careful Xiao Yuanmu was, Song Xuanhe didn’t dare to make bets with Xiao Yuanmu’s life.

On the other hand, Louis really wanted to believe Xiao Yuanmu. He felt that since Xiao Yuanmu was so certain, he must have made full preparations. So, he completely set down his concerns and smiled, “In that case, we’ll be here waiting for your good news.”

Xiao Yuanmu looked at the quiet and withdrawn Song Xuanhe and held his hand tight, comforting him silently.

Song Xuanhe raised his gaze. This was the first time Xiao Yuanmu had seen such a worried look in his eyes. It was like his eyes could only hold him, would only have him, and only care about him. He suddenly wanted to stay in this pair of clear eyes and look for a moment longer.

“Can you promise that nothing will happen to you?” Song Xuanhe looked at Xiao Yuanmu seriously, wanting to get his assurance again.

“I promise.” Xiao Yuanmu hugged him gently and avoided his gaze. He was afraid that if he looked again, the plan that would happen in a while would no longer be carried out on time. He spoke very quietly, “Trust me.”

Song Xuanhe made a very light sound of acknowledgement and hugged Xiao Yuanmu back.

Louis looked on from the side, then reminded them darkly, “I’ve just broken up.”

“Because of you guys, I broke up with my childhood girlfriend who I’d just gotten back together with for less than two weeks, yet again. And she even thinks that there’s something wrong with my character, thinking that I lied to her about my sexual. It might take me even longer to get back together with her again this time. Don’t you guys feel any guilt?”

“If you guys know that this is my house, then I think you might not hug each other for so long…”

Seeing that Song Xuanhe and Xiao Yuanmu showed no intention to move, Louis could only give up and try to attract their attention in other ways. He said seriously, “Xiao, do you plan to let Xiao Baicong direct and act out his own play and then come back safely just like that?”

“Of course.” Xiao Yuanmu released Song Xuanhe. He paused for a moment, the shadow at the bottom of his gaze dispersing. Then, “That’s impossible.”

“What are you planning to do to him?” Louis was very curious and excited.

Xiao Yuanmu spoke indifferently, “Do to him what he planned to do to me.”

Louis didn’t understand what he meant, “You’re going to direct and act out your own kidnapping too? Then have him save you and expose him?” Louis felt that what he was saying sounded stupid halfway through and shook his head, “No way.”

The bottom of Xiao Yuanmu’s eyes was like a stretch of darkness. Louis and the others naturally wouldn’t know Xiao Baicong’s ultimate goal, nor had he known in his previous life. Therefore, even if he’d noticed something suspicious, he’d still gone to save Xiao Yuanmu. It was just that a strange combination of circumstances had resulted in Xiao Baicong accidentally stepping into the trap set for him.

In this life, he had made Xiao Lin’s illness happen early, and Xiao Baicong had really been unable to sit still. He’d moved this kidnapping drama that he’d directed and acted out by himself to an earlier time, and the people Xiao Yuanmu had already bought to his side performed as expected, participating in Xiao Baicong’s plan without arousing any doubt. This was how he could so clearly know that Xiao Baicong’s drama was no different this time from his previous life.

Since that was the case, he would follow the trajectory from the previous life. However, this time, he would make it so that Xiao Baicong went from accidentally stepping into the trap he’d set up for him, to having no choice but to step into it himself. He would also make all his plans happen in vain, so that he would completely be unable to hold the position of Xiao Family head.

“What exactly is your plan?” Louis was curious.

Xiao Yuanmu only frowned, “You’ll know when the time comes.”

With that, he looked at his watch and got up, “It’s time to go ‘save’ Xiao Baicong.”

When he saw that Song Xuanhe was looking at him, the shadow at the bottom of his gaze dispersed, and he showed a small smile. He bent over and spoke into his ear, “Yesterday, I said that nothing you do would make me sad, except for one thing.”

Song Xuanhe raised his gaze and met his eyes.

Xiao Yuanmu continued quietly, “I’ll only be sad if you leave me.”

The corners of his eyes tilted up slightly, and he comforted him with his smile and determination, “So, I won’t make you sad.”

xiin: Madame Xiao is really… [fill in the blanks here]